This All-Star Game one that few wanted
ATLANTA – It’s the NBA All-Star Game almost no one seemed to want.
Certainly not the players, who scoffed at the notion of playing an exhibition game in the midst of a pandemic.
The city of Atlanta, picked as a replacement for original host Indianapolis, didn’t seem so thrilled with the idea, either.
The mayor urged fans to stay away from an event renowned for wild parties and packed streets. Police scheduled 12-hour shifts and canceled off days in an attempt to crack down on any events that could lead to a surge of COVID-19 cases.
But the league pressed forward, eager to improve its bottom line and its brand by televising the popular midseason showcase around the world.
The NBA’s best will take the court Sunday in a one-night-only, hastily arranged event at mostly empty State Farm Arena, where only a limited number of invited guests will be allowed to watch in person.
“All-Star is part of our league. It’s no different than all the other games we play,” Commissioner Adam Silver said. “It begins and ends with the fans. This is an event the fans love to see. They love to see the players come together.
“But,” he quickly added, “nothing comes without controversy in a pandemic.”
The league’s biggest stars, led by LeBron James, would have preferred getting some much-needed time off during the six-day break.
James even went so far as to call it “a slap in the face” to players who had little time to recover from last year’s interrupted season, which was completed in a central Florida bubble, and are still dealing with burdensome protocols intended to stifle the coronavirus as much as possible (but still weren’t enough to prevent the postponementof31gamesinthefirsthalf).
Now that it’s game on, James is trying to make the best of the situation, using the All-Star platform to carry on with his efforts to expand voting rights – a fitting gesture with the game being held in a state that was one of the focal points of the 2020 election.
“Look what we made happen, what our voices made possible,” the Los Angeles Lakers star says in a 51-second ad that was set to air for the first time during the game. “And now, look what they’re trying to do to silence us, using every trick in the book and attacking democracy itself. Because they saw what we’re capable of, and they fear it.”
Some things to watch for in Sunday’s All-Star Game:
Team Lebron vs. Team Durant: This will be the fourth straight year to feature a format where the two top vote-getters served as captains and drafted their teams from the All-Star selections.
James has handled the duties all four times, going 3-0 in his previous stints – including last year’s 157-155 thriller in Chicago.
Brooklyn’s Kevin Durant got the nod for the first time, though he won’t be able to play in the game because of an ailing hamstring.
James used the top draft pick on two-time reigning MVP Giannis Antetokounmpo, who captained the squad that went against Team LeBron the last two years. They are joined in the starting lineup by Stephen Curry of Golden State, Luka Doncic of Dallas and Nikola Jokic of Denver.
Durant selected Nets teammate Kyrie Irving with his first choice, rounding out the starting lineup with Joel Embiid of the 76ers, 2020 All-Star MVP Kawhi Leonard of the Los Angeles Clippers, Bradley Beal of Washington and Jayson Tatum of the Celtics.
“I just try to pick players that can complement one another,” James said.
ORLANDO, Fla. – Lee Westwood made a pair of 30-foot putts over the final three holes Saturday, one for eagle and the other a closing birdie, for a 7under 65 that gave England’s ageless wonder a one-shot lead in the Arnold Palmer Invitational.
Westwood turns 48 next month and is feeling younger by the years, coming off a third European Tour title and still easily among the top 50 in the world.
Now he goes up against U.S. Open champion Bryson DeChambeau, whose 68 included a birdie on the par-5 sixth hole in which he cut off so much of the water he had only 70 yards for his second shot on the 531-yard hole.
Corey Conners of Canada, who started with a one-shot lead, could only manage a 71 on a cool, breezy day at Bay Hill with only a few drops of rain. He also was one shot behind.
“It’s nice to still be playing in these tournaments,” Westwood said. “You’ve got to be top 50 in the world and if you would have said to me 20 years ago will you still be top 50 in the world at 48 I might have been slightly skeptical. And it just shows that I’m still capable of playing well in these tournaments with all the good young players around me and obviously contending, because that’s what I’m doing this week.”
Sunday was shaping up as another thriller at Bay Hill.
Jordan Spieth opened with a birdie and a hole-in-one, took the lead by holing a bunker shot on the par-3 seventh, saved par after a tee shot into the water and shot 68 with the kind of round he’d rather do without. Spieth prefers boring golf, and this was anything but that.
He was two shots behind, along with former PGA champion Keegan Bradley, who had the low score of the week at 64.
Spieth didn’t have the only ace. Jazz Janewattananond made on on the 14th hole that thrust him into the ix with a 69, leaving him four shots behind in a group that included Rory McIlroy, who bogeyed the last for a 72.
Despite such a pedestrian round, McIlroy was very much in contention.
They will be chasing Westwood, who first played the Arnold Palmer Invitational in 1998. He was at 11-under 205.
Westwood posted his lowest score ever at Bay Hill and made only six pars.
He had eight birdies and the eagle on the 16th hole, along with a pair of three-putt bogeys.
Westwood has five victories since turning 40, including last year in Abu Dhabi, among the strongest fields on the European Tour. He rallied to win the Race to Dubai late last year, his third time finishing the year as Europe’s No. 1.
So this didn’t surprise him, especially on a course that fits his eye, even though he has only one finish in the top 10.
“I haven’t lost any of my length and I haven’t lost any of my enthusiasm to go and work and work in the gym,” Westwood said. “My nerves are still intact, I still get into contention and enjoy it rather than kind of back off.”
LPGA Tour
OCALA, Fla. – Jennifer Kupcho made a 12-foot eagle putt on the final hole to cut Austin Ernst’s lead to a stroke Saturday in the LPGA Tour’s Drive On Championship.
Kupcho shot a 2-under 70 at Golden Ocala, setting up the eagle with a fairway wood that just cleared the rocks and water fronting the green on the par-5 18th.
Ernst parred the last six holes in a 69. The two-time LPGA Tour winner was at 13-under 203.
Kupcho is winless on the tour. The former Wake Forest star from Colorado won the 2018 NCAA title and the inaugural Augusta National Women’s Amateur in 2019 with a back-nine charge.
Albane Valenzuela (66), Patty Tavatanakit (69) and Jenny Coleman (70) were tied for third at 7 under.
Nelly Korda had a 76 to drop to 3 under. She won the Gainbridge LPGA last week at Lake Nona